A new sunny sight that is lighting up faces and boosting spirits has been spotted at Mount Maunganui this summer, but it may be short-lived. 

After cresting the summit of Mauao, while pausing to rest and take in the panoramic view, climbers are bemused when looking down, to find a bright yellow smiley face smiling up at them from 232 metres below.

“Love it!” writes Carol Finn under photos of the smiley face posted to Facebook.

“It’s our very own Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal, or Eiffel Tower,” writes David Fletcher in another Facebook post. “Where are we going to sleep all of these overseas travellers that will inevitably be boarding planes shortly to see this masterpiece?”

The Mount smiley face, seen from the summit of Mauao. Photo: Supplied.

The burst of unexpected cheer has descended upon the otherwise mundane intersection of Adams Ave and Maunganui Road at Mount Maunganui, where the colossal yellow smiley face, defying the conventional norms of road markings, has appeared on the roundabout.

Painted on November 29, 2023, by one of Tauranga’s busy road markers and without the blessing of Tauranga City Council, it went unnoticed by many for weeks. Council staff saw it though.

“I got into a bit of trouble,” says Julian Sim, who has been working on Tauranga roads since 1998.

“I did it for a laugh but I’d always wanted to put a smiley face there.”

Julian says there has “always” been a large painted yellow dot at the intersection.

“They used to have a concrete dome. It has always been yellow, it’s been there for 15 to 20 years.”

Google Maps shows the roundabout at the intersection of Adams Ave and Maunganui Road has been painted yelllow since at least 2010. In 2010 it also had three arrows circling it. Image: Google Maps.

As Christmas drew closer, he knew it was coming up time for him to get out the yellow pot again and repaint what was now a flat roundabout.

“I had been repainting all the roads at the Mount, and was doing from Pilot Bay to Main Beach.”

At around 2am, he reached the Mount Maunganui Rd/Adams Ave intersection opposite the Mount Hot Pools.

“I decided once I was there to put a smiley face on it and make everyone happy.”

He says 2023 “has been a sh** year for the whole world.

“Last year my father-in-law died in May, and I had to put my dog down in November just about the same time as I painted the smile.”

The face painted onto the roundabout on November 29, 2023. Screenshot: Supplied.

His Michelangelo moment was caught on CCTV, but undeterred, Julian returned to spruce up the job.

“I had to go back and repaint the eye and mouth as they were fading, so thought while touching them up, I’d add a tongue.”

He says Council knows he’s been back to “freshen it up”.

The yellow roundabout at the intersection of Adams Ave and Maunganui Road. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

The vibrant emblem, symbolic of joy and positivity, still adorns the roundabout with an audacious charm, although Tauranga City Council have plans for its removal.

“The roundabout was meant to be painted white, however our contractor added some artistic flare, instead painting it yellow and adding a smiley face,” says Tauranga City Council Infrastructure General Manager Nic Johansson.

“Once we were made aware, we decided to leave it as it is given it was Christmas, and doesn’t pose a safety issue.

“While we think it’s very creative, we have asked our contractor not to paint unauthorised patterns or colours without checking with us first.”

A tongue was added to the smiley face in the yellow roundabout. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

Nic says the smiley face will remain over summer.

“But once the yellow paint wears off we will be painting it white as per normal standards.”

With the community unaware of the impending whitewash, the smiley's magnetic allure has been garnering popular support across social media platforms, its sunny countenance brightening up the day for many amidst the already stunning landscape.

The cheeky smile has been causing a few smiles ....once people actually notice it. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

Photos posted to the Mount Maunganui, New Zealand Facebook page which has 38,103 followers, have gone viral, reaching over 69,000 people, and the page reaching 1.2million, an increase in the last 90 days of 291 per cent from the previous 90 days.

“About time we got some humour back into our sad little ‘offended’ lives,” says Lee Apadam.

“What a hoot,” says Maureen Bedford.

Photos of the Mount smiley face on the Mount Maunganui, NZ Facebook page have gone viral on social media. Image: Supplied.

Others complained that there are too many roundabouts, traffic lights, road cones and potholes and it’s all a waste of money.

“I think it works…I’m not grumpy about this…for a change lol,” says Kay Rivers.

Some thought it may be too much of a distraction in the 30km per hour zone.

“If drivers are that easily distracted they shouldn’t be driving at all,” says Denise Awhimate.

Tauranga's friend Peter Kageyama weighs in

American urbanist and friend of Tauranga Peter Kageyama has weighed in on the online discussion, saying he thinks the Mount Maunganui smiley face “is a lovely expression of community pride and fun”.

“Someone cared enough to make the effort to do something positive for the city,” says Peter.

International community development expert, author of book ‘For the Love of Cities',and co-founder and producer of the Creative Cities Summit Peter Kageyama. Photo: SunLive.

He says some may say it is silly or trite “but that is not the point”.

“It is better than a merely functional roundabout. It does its core job but also gets noticed by people and it makes them smile. There is value in that smile however fleeting it may be.

“If the city and the traffic engineers tell you it is a matter of “safety” that is a disingenuous argument. The fact that people notice it more and folks come and take pictures of it actually increases its effectiveness and its safety.”

He says this is the same reason that a spiral staircase is safer than an ordinary staircase.

“Because it is not ordinary, we pay more attention,” says Peter.

As an American community and economic expert, and a lover of cities, Peter offers fresh perspectives on how councils and citizens can better engage 'and create loveable places”. After all, as he says, no city is loved because it only fixes potholes.

The author of book ‘For the Love of Cities: The Love Affair Between People and Their Places', Peter was in Tauranga for a three-day visit in August 2016, talking to city business leaders, Tauranga City Council's community development team and a Rotary club.

And he visited three years earlier, when he inspired the street pianos. He likes Tauranga and has returned a few times.

Peter says cities also shouldn’t underestimate the value of fun.

“Fun is a legitimate goal for cities, yet too often local governments don’t want to be seen doing fun things lest some cranky citizen complains that they should be fixing potholes and not doing something frivolous like painting roundabouts.

“Lighten up council and take heart that you have people in the community that want to do things like this for the city. Thank them, don’t squelch them.”

Yellow smiley face – an iconic symbol

The yellow smiley face is an iconic symbol that emerged in popular culture during the late 1960s.

It was created by Harvey Ball, a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1963. Harvey was commissioned by a local insurance company to design a morale-boosting symbol for their employees.

The Mount smiley face, seen from the summit of Mauao. Photo: Supplied.

He came up with the simple yet universally recognizable yellow smiley face with two dots for eyes and a wide grin.

The symbol gained widespread popularity and became a cultural phenomenon, symbolizing happiness, positivity, and goodwill. It was quickly embraced in various forms of media, including stickers, buttons, posters, and advertisements.

The smiley face became an enduring symbol of the counterculture movement of the 1960s and 1970s, representing peace, love, and happiness.

Since its creation, the yellow smiley face has continued to be a prominent feature in popular culture, often used in art, fashion, and communication to convey emotions ranging from joy to irony.

Its simple yet powerful design has made it one of the most recognizable symbols worldwide.

Keep it or lose it?

For now the smiley face lives on, however, as already mentioned, the council has plans to erase this unauthorised artwork and restore conventional white paint at the close of summer, despite the circle being yellow for the last decade.

In the meantime, visible from the summit of Mauao, it is casting a beacon of unity amidst the picturesque landscape and bringing a smile to many who see it.